But on opening night on Thursday, it was the “Alfie” star’s performance which came under the spotlight, with critics labeling her “second rate”.

Ben Brantley, of the New York Times, writes, “Ms Miller registers as a healthy, sane young woman with good diction, good posture and great legs. Commendable as these attributes are, they are of limited use in portraying a tautly wound, death-courting neurotic who is eaten alive by her own demons.

“If Julie is written as clashing chords of conflicted impulses, Ms Miller plays them like a novice at a piano, plunking down each note loudly and individually.”

Wall Street Journal theatre critic Terry Teachout adds, “A model turned second-tier movie star, all she does is stalk around the stage striking vampy poses… she has no more business playing a classic stage role than I have posing for the cover of Vogue.”